Ghost on stairs convinces inspector.
N.S.P.C.C. Inspector Bill Beckett went to “talk sense” to a family frightened by a ghost and ended up, he says, by seeing “things” himself. He was called to the house in Kirkstead Crescent, Grimsby, after complaints that Robert Eddington was being cruel to his daughter, Janet, 14, and her two younger brothers by frightening them with spooky stories. Yesterday, he advised Janet, who had already fled in terror, to stay with friends and extracted a promise from the local housing departement that the Eddingtons should get the first suitable vacancy. Said Inspector Beckett: “I’m 35, and I flatter myself that I’m a level-headed chap.”
“‘There,’ said Mr Eddington to me, ‘is the chair from where most people see the ghost.’ ‘Nonsense, man,’ I replied. ‘This house is perfectly normal.’ Then, quite clearly, I saw a dark shadow come down the stairs. I saw it for five or six seconds till it receded. I don’t believe in ghosts and in the cold light of day, I don’t believe I saw one. But I certainly saw something for which I could find no explanation. It gave me quite a turn, as you can imagine. I raced upstairs, but I found all the door shut, and nothing that could have caused a moving shadow.”
Mr Eddington’s two sons, Robert, ten, and George, six, have both seen the black shadow. “But it seems most active when Janet is about,” said Mr Eddington.
His housekeeper, Mrs Wilde – the Eddingtons are separated – has heard mysterious thumpings and bangings as well. This, too, was confirmed by Insp. Beckett. “I heard knockings while I was there, but found no one,” he said. “One thing is certain: the children must leave the house as soon as possible. It is endangering their welfare; they are terrified. That’s why I went to the housing department.”
The People, 21st June 1959.